NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS – Minister of Agriculture in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), Deputy Premier the Honourable Eric Evelyn has expressed the government’s gratitude to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for its assistance with greenhouse farming on Nevis.
FAO representatives paid a courtesy call to the Minister during a recent visit to the island. The FAO is currently undertaking a project in St. Kitts and Nevis, to strengthen protected agriculture to improve people’s livelihoods, food, and nutrition security.
Minister Evelyn said while Nevis is grateful for the project offering repairs to greenhouses because most on the island are relatively new, farmers could benefit more from financial assistance.
“There are many ways that this project can assist, apart from repairs, because I believe that most of the shade house farmers right now, may probably not want too many repairs to their structures; but if there is funding available where we can have new persons who can benefit and who can venture into this type of technology, we will be very, very happy.
“We are all about improving in agriculture, improving in technology, and whatever you as an allied partner can supply or whatever you can give in terms of assistance, whether technical or otherwise, we will be very happy to take that on board, and we are happy to continue to build that bond of friendship and collaboration between our Ministry, our Administration, and the Food and Agriculture Organization,” he said.
National Consultant Agent Mr Keithley Amory said the FAO representatives were keen on assessing all the greenhouses to improve those that are already productive and getting those in disrepair back into productivity.
“So that’s the major aim of this assessment at this point. As we go along, other interventions will come into play, after choosing beneficiaries. We are hoping that based on what we have seen, that we can help as many persons as possible so that we can get the whole protected agriculture system up,” he said.
Minister Evelyn pointed out that young farmers are now venturing into protected agriculture, which augurs well for Nevis as the island continues its thrust towards food sovereignty.
“The success has been excellent based on what we have seen here on the island of Nevis, so successful that we are almost self-sufficient in lettuce production. Not only our farmers are into shade house production, but we at the Department of Agriculture have been leading with that as well.
“Normally, when persons come and visit me, they are always impressed with what they see here with our shade house farmers and I want to commend them. They have run with it and they have done an extraordinary job.”
The FAO team included Anne Desrochers, Plant Production and Protection Specialist; Melvin Medina-Navarro, Lead Technical Officer and the Plant Production and Protection Officer; Jervis Rowe, FAO Regional Consultant and Hydeia Tyson, Nevis focal point for the project.
Also present at the meeting were Mr. Randy Elliott, Director of the Department of Agriculture in Nevis; and Ms. Tanisha Weekes of the Ministry of Agriculture in St. Kitts.